Remission induction therapy containing rituximab markedly improved the outcome of untreated mature B cell lymphoma.
Many controlled clinical trials have proven that rituximab improves the clinical outcome of patients with mature B cell lymphoma. This study was conducted to assess the contribution of rituximab in the actual clinical practice. Patients with newly diagnosed mature B cell lymphoma treated at 20 National Hospital Organization hospitals from January 2000 to December 2004 were consecutively registered. Rituximab was approved in September 2002 for indolent B cell lymphoma and in September 2003 for aggressive B cell lymphoma in Japan. The patients were divided into two groups depending on whether they received induction therapy containing rituximab. The endpoint was to evaluate the rituximab benefit based on 2-year progression-free survival (PFS) and 2-year overall survival (OS). A total 1126 patients received chemotherapies. Of these, 762 were diagnosed as diffuse large B cell lymphoma (DLBCL) and 215 as follicular lymphoma (FL). PFS and OS were markedly improved in the rituximab group compared with the non-rituximab group in patients with DLBCL (both P < 0.001) and in patients with FL (P < 0.001 and P = 0.003 respectively). Rituximab, when used for remission induction therapy, significantly improved the clinical outcome of the mature B cell lymphoma patient in actual clinical practice.
Nagai
Hirokazu
H
Clinical Research Centre, National Hospital Organization Nagoya Medical Centre, Nagoya, Japan. nagaih@nnh.hosp.go.jp
Yano
Takahiro
T
Watanabe
Tomoyuki
T
Uike
Naokuni
N
Okamura
Seiichi
S
Hanada
Shuichi
S
Kawano
Fumio
F
Sunami
Kazutaka
K
Inoue
Nobumasa
N
Sawamura
Morio
M
Nishiura
Tetsuo
T
Hotta
Tomomitsu
T
Horibe
Keizo
K
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D058846:Antibodies, Monoclonal, Murine-Derived; D000971:Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D018572:Disease-Free Survival; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D053208:Kaplan-Meier Estimate; D016393:Lymphoma, B-Cell / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000401:mortality; D008224:Lymphoma, Follicular / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000401:mortality; D016403:Lymphoma, Large B-Cell, Diffuse / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000401:mortality; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D012074:Remission Induction / Q000379:methods; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D000069283:Rituximab; D015996:Survival Rate; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D055815:Young Adult
D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal; D058846:Antibodies, Monoclonal, Murine-Derived; D000069283:Rituximab